Sometimes as many as 19 seated cruising comrades join her for a ride all across Midland.

To some of them, De Los Santos is the first friendly face they see in the morning and last in the evening.

De Los Santos is a bus operator for EZ RIDER, a post she has held since the public transportation operation began operating in the Midland-Odessa area.

"It's fulfilled me," she said of her career. Whether it's transporting adults across town or children to the school yard, some Midland bus operators view their jobs as service to others while gaining a few things themselves.

"It's just a special job," said the Rev. Melvin Williams, pastor of Lamesa Road Church of Christ. For 14 years, Williams has been a bus driver, like his father was in the east Texas town Palestine. Williams said he never thought of himself as a school bus driver, but now that has changed. "I wouldn't think of doing anything else," Williams said.

Robert Doyle has been a Midland Independent School District bus driver for about 10 years and transports special needs students. "I like the job, I like the people and I like the kids," Doyle said. "They're beautiful people. You're always a bus driver to them."

Williams and Doyle are two of an estimated 160 full-time MISD bus drivers, said Willie Tarleton, MISD's director of transportation. Tarleton said the district needs about 13 more full-time and about 12 part-time drivers, who serve as substitutes. The school district has about 225 employees in transportation, he added.

Oscar Valencia's career with MISD began when the former mechanic submitted an application. "I had a phone call before I got home," said Valencia, who has been a bus driver for about 16 years.

EZ RIDER has a total of 23 full-time bus operators, with 13 in Midland and 10 in Odessa, said Nina Collins, director of operations. There also are part-time positions, she added.

Before De Los Santos joined, she was an Ector County Independent School District bus driver for 15 years, which she enjoyed. "It was never a dull moment with the kids. There was always something going on," said De Los Santos, a former housewife and stay-at-home mom.

She operated a bus for a city transit near Lubbock briefly before returning to the Midland-Odessa area. Like her former jobs, De Los Santos also has found rewards in her present position.

"You meet people and you get to find out what they go through" and are able to help them with their transportation needs, De Los Santos said. That gesture may be helpful down the road "because sooner or later, we ourselves one day probably will need transportation," she added.

For some school bus drivers, the children become like family. "They do become your kids," said Elisa McFarland, who has been a MISD bus driver for 18 years. "When you talk about them, they're 'my kids.'"